Fig. 1

Protein inhibitor of activated signal transducer and activator- of transcription 3 (PIAS3) was detected in clinical breast cancer specimens. Some examples of the immunoblotting results. Total PIAS3 was determined by immunobotting in the breast cancer tissues (C) compared with the adjacent noncancerous tissues (N). The PIAS3 expression levels were normalized to the levels of the corresponding β-actin protein. Image J software was used to compare the expression levels of the total PIAS3 in the breast cancer tissues and the adjacent noncancerous tissues from the same patient after normalization with β-actin. C > N was defined as the ratio of total PIAS3 to the respective β-actin that was at least 50 % higher in the cancerous tissue than in the paired noncancerous tissue. Similarly, C < N was defined as the ratio of the total PIAS3 to the respective β-actin in the noncancerous tissue that was at least 50 % higher than that in the paired cancerous tissue. C = N was defined as less than 50 % difference in the ratio of the total PIAS3 to the respective β-actin between the two paired tissues. M: MCF-7 cell line